(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to tennis teaching aids and, more particularly, to a device useable on a tennis court in combination with a standard tennis net and tennis net posts to encourage players to routinely hit the ball over the tennis net.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
In playing tennis, balls are hit over the tennis net from one side of the court to the other. It is necessary to hit the ball over the tennis net but still keep it within the confines of the end line. A problem that occurs is tennis players tend to try to hit the ball too close to the top of the tennis net which often results in hitting the net. Various inventions have been employed to improve the accuracy of the tennis player hitting tennis balls above the tennis net. One such invention is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,436,304 to Castleman et al. in which a white band is placed a distance above the tennis net. The player then uses the white band as a target to accurately keep the ball in play. A problem with this invention is that players can hit the ball above or below the white band to keep the ball in play which in turn makes it ineffective as a teaching aid. It also encourages aiming for the band and not the back of the court.
It is an object of my present invention to improve a tennis player's accuracy in placing the ball within the tennis court by rewarding the tennis player only when he or she hits the tennis ball a safe minimum distance above the tennis net.
A further object of my invention is to make the player aware of the fact that the top of the net was never meant to be a target. Rather it is a minimum height the ball must attain in addition to landing within the confines of the court. There is no limit on the height the ball can attain as long as it lands within the confines of the court.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,243,221 to Ferreira-Godinho, 4,204,679 to Kreuzman and 3,966,205 to Schain et al. all disclose apparatuses to improve a tennis player's game and more particularly the serve, but all require extensive hardware and/or modified existing structure. U.S. Pat. No. 3,993,306 to Scott discloses a tennis target structure that straps to the side of the tennis net. This makes it difficult to align the target with respect to the tennis net.
Thus, it is another object of the present invention to provide a device that can easily be aligned with and attached to an existing tennis pole and tennis net structure so that tennis players can improve their game on an existing tennis court.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a device which is simple in construction, inexpensive, easy to install and simple to operate.
Other objects of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment and from the accompanying drawings.